The 14th Richmond International Film Festival (RIFF) taking place September 23rd – 28th, 2025 in Richmond, Virginia, features six days of award-winning film premieres and signature events around this year’s theme, Bare Naked.
The festival will feature 170 in person premieres across several categories of feature and short length films
Kicking off the 2025 festival is the narrative feature, Omaha a feature directed by Cole Wesley starring John Magaro (The Big Short, Past Lives), Molly Belle Wright, and Wyatt Solis.
Coupled with the above opening feature is the narrative short, Sally, Get the Potatoes, which is the personal debut of director Danicah Waldo. The film stars Clark Carmichael (House of Cards, Gotham), Travis Doughty (Succession), and Amanda Ferguson.
The Late opening night film includes Myth of the Ghost Kingdom, a narrative feature with Virginia ties directed by Jason Mullis, starring Ingrid Alli (Swagger, American Experience) and Malcolm Simmons. The narrative short, Under the Hawthorn Tree directed by Tori Layne, starring Calli Nebe and Casey Breneman will screen prior to the feature.
On Wednesday, Sep 24, a variety of spotlights screen at BTM Movieland and the Byrd Theatre including for Animation Spotlights, Environmental Spotlights, Virginia Icons, this year’s special collaboration with the VCU Capstone class “Made by Humans” and Sports Spotlights. That evening at the Byrd Theatre is the documentary feature, The Judge – Character, Cases, and Courage, with special guests, directed by Robert Griffith,
BTM Movieland is showing the documentary feature Been Here Stay Here, directed by David Usui and Born That Way, directed by Éamon Little.
Thursday evening the Byrd Theatre Bird in Hand will premiere with special guests, directed by Melody C. Roscher, starring Alisha Wainwright (Raising Dion, Shadowhunters), Christine Lahti (Chicago Hope, And Justice For All), Annabelle Dexter-Jones (American Horror Story). Multiple highlight films showing at BTM Movieland including the Civil Rights Spotlight documentary Welcome to Jay, with special guest director Jeffrey Morgan and co-producer Alice Brewton Hurwitz, the documentary feature B.F. Skinner Plays Himself directed by Ted Kennedy followed by narrative feature Death of My Youth, directed by Timo Jacobs.
On Friday, Sep 26, RIFF starts the evening with the Environmental Sustainability Spotlight documentary feature, The Little Things That Run the World, directed by Doug Hawes-Davis. The Byrd Theatre is showing multiple highlight films starting with Battersea, with special guests, directed by T.J. Sandella and John Anthony, starring Fernando Blanco, Jesse Howland, and Nancy Kimball, followed by Martyr of Gowanus with special guests, directed by Brian Meere, starring Holt McCallany (Fight Club, Mindhunter), Sawyer Spielberg (Materialists). BTM Movieland will screen the documentary feature SALLY, with special guest director Deborah Alice Craig, followed by the narrative features Song of Goats, directed by Andrzej Jakimowski with special guest Ifigenia Tzola, and Sonny Boy with special guest Nick Maccarone (Writer) directed by Kristen Anne Hansen, starring Roy Abruzzo ( The Sopranos), Rocky Myers (The Pitt), Perry Young (John Wick Chapter 2).
Kicking off the weekend on Saturday, Sep 27, at the Byrd Theatre at 11am is the documentary short, Voices of Tomorrow, directed by Lena Popilieva, followed by the documentary feature In This Moment directed by Jess Speight featuring the beloved local coach Alex Peavy, Russell Wilson, and more. A France Spotlight and variety of other spotlights screen in the afternoon at the Byrd Theatre and at BTM Movieland there will be an International Shorts Spotlight, Military Spotlight, France Spotlight II, Korea Spotlight, and capping off the night will be Thriller and Suspense Spotlights. Multiple narrative features The Grand Strand, directed by Luke Lowder, starring John Carroll Lynch (Fargo, The Trial of the Chicago 7), Wilds Clemmons, and Erin Ownbey, The Addiction of Hope, directed by Martin A. Gottlieb, starring Clancy Brown (The Shawshank Redemption, Starship Troopers), Alan Rosenberg (The Wanderers) and Susan Ruttan with special guest Anne-Marie Johnson. Saturday night at the Byrd Theatre the narrative feature Taste the Revolution, directed by Daniel Klein, starring Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Green Book, True Detective) with a special guest Q & A after the screening. At BTM Movieland the documentary feature Ain’t No Back to Merry-go-round, directed by Ilana Trachtman, the narrative feature ART THIEF, directed by Arthur Egeli with special guest Q & A after the screening.
Closing out the festival on Sunday, Sep 28, RIFF features multiple highlight films at BTM Movieland including the documentary feature Rocancourt, the Film, with special guest director David Serero, A Letter to David, directed by Tom Shoval, the narrative feature SODA, directed by Erez Tadmor, Eastern Western, with special guest directors Biliana Grozdanova and Marina Grozdanova and Looking Up directed by Elena Lefkowitz closing out BTM Movieland.
Screening Sunday afternoon at the Byrd Theatre is Sierra 914 directed by Ryan Dugger featuring Richmond native, Will Turner, a world renowned ultra endurance athlete followed by the closing night film.
Closing Night Film: Closing out the festival at the Byrd is The Summer Book directed by Charlie McDowell, starring Glenn Close (Fatal Attraction, The Big Chill, The Natural, 101 Dalmatians), Anders Danielsen Lie (Reprise, 22 July, The Worst Person in the World), and Emily Matthews.
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